Department of Health and Human Services Reverses Some Layoffs
The Department of Health and Human Services has formally revoked some dismissal announcements, restoring several federal health officers and US centers for disease control and prevention, as well as the food and drug administration. Letters sent to dismissed workers on Tuesday informed them that their employment was restored, going a step further from previous re-settings that were advertised by department officials.
Background
The World Trade Center Health Program, which offers health services for 9/11 first responders and survivors, had at least one dozen employees who were told that their notice of discharge was revoked. This move came after a previous announcement to cut 15 employees of the 9/11 program, prompting outcry from New York legislators.
Response from Health and Human Services Secretary
In an interview, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that "these programs were not ended, as the media reported. But they were simply summarized into a place that makes more sense." However, not all workers who were promised to be brought back to work have received messages restoring their employment.
FDA Laboratories Affected
Some of the FDA’s laboratories received messages on Tuesday that they would officially be back to work on Wednesday. Food safety laboratories in Chicago and San Francisco were given indications that their layoffs were reversed, although cuts in subject workers in the laboratories have not decreased. Scientists for food security in these laboratories received letters that repaid their previous notice of discharge.
Uncertainty Remains
Not all affected teams have been restored, with two more laboratories at the FDA – drug safety scientists in Puerto Rico and Detroit – yet to receive any letters. Employees of the National Center for Environmental Health of the CDC also remain in limbo. The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comments on which teams were shortened and which were brought back.
Recent Layoffs
The move to reverse some layoffs comes days after the department released hundreds of other employees from the National Institutes of Health, including staff who had survived the initial wave of cuts in April. The layoffs included employees of the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute for Drug Abuse, the National Library of Medicine, and the Office for Research Institutions. NIH employees were told that the additional cuts were initiated by the need to reinstate scientists and meet strict discharge rates of the department.
